First question this morning is, what was the result of Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, and Pharaoh? Well, the result was that the Israelites did escape from the land and rule of Pharaoh, in fact, Pharaoh willingly let them go.
Yes, the LORD’s plan was realized, but when we look back at the beginning of the plan, it did not look to promising. You see, the Israelite people were doing work for Pharaoh and thanks to Moses and Aaron, that work was made harder.
“4But the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.’ 5And Pharaoh said, ‘Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!’ 6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7’You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.’” – Exodus 5:4-7 (ESV)
Moses and Aaron tried to get relief for the people and instead Pharaoh made their work even harder. They were to no gather straw on their own for the bricks and continue to produce the same results of the work, doubling the effort needed.
The part we have to remember is who is in control during this entire time. God! The people could not see the plan of the LORD. All they saw was that they now had more work and things were harder for them. But, the LORD was just starting the work to get them released. And, the time it took for them to be released was not short (some say about a year). So, it stands to reason that the people did not see the plan that God had for them in the beginning.
For us, we have to do the work assigned by God. It may be difficult in the moment, and it may get even more difficult and we may not see the plan He has for us. The results may not be revealed until we get there. It may take years, and as we see with the Moses and the promised land, we may not even get to be there for the result. But God does have a plan and it is up to us to do the work and realize it is for the result of this plan we work, even when we may not be there when it is resolved fully.
What is your view of the plan of God? Do you expect that you know where it all ends? What if you did the work, knowing that you may simply be at the beginning of the plan that will play out over a long period of time?
Trevor's Thoughts 